Have you ever taken a course that was worth it's cost, that you didn't have to take some sort to exit exam or cummulative assessment?  Have you ever taken a course that's wirth it's cost, that you took no form of assessment at all?  What about school that is "free", like public school.  Can you remember a time when you took a course that didn't end in an exam? The NY Times is reporting on the exit exam debate that is effective the nation's public high schools.  About half of the states have end of course exit exam requirements.  Although, I beleive that statistic may be a little misleading because some areas may require the exam but students can be exempt for it or fail it and try a different approach (like a cummulative project).  Most courses require an assessment of student learning which ultimately reflects, not just student progress but, teacher effectiveness.  However, I am a firm believer that tests are not the ultimate in assessment.  Multiple choice (or guess, as the kids call it) and true/false questions only determine a student's ability to memorize and select the best answer.  These types of standardized tests have absolutely nothing to do with ability to perform a certain task or reasoning or problem solving.  I think, overall, exit exams are a bad idea.  Responsible, educated, professional teachers ought to be able to determine, based on other forms of assessment, whether the student has achieved mastery or not.